Hobbing cutter and method of making same



Patented Aug. 23, 1932 PATENT *OFFICE OLIVER e. sIMMoNs, or' LAKEWooD, onfo i HOBBING GUTTEE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME i Application mea April za,

This invention relates to a hobbing cutter and method of making same forgenerating the -teeth of worm wheels and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a hob in which one end portion is provided with edged cutting teeth, the other end. portion being also provided with edged cutting teeth,

the method of relieving the lastmentionedl teeth being different from thej method of relieving the first mentioned cutting teeth. i

Another object of the invention resides in the method and means by which a cutter for` hobbing worm wheels and the like, when caused torotate and be fed tangentially across the throated face of a worm wheel or the like which is also rotating, Will gradually begin to generate conjugateteeth in the work'referred to and as the rotary movement and the feed j movement is continued, will cause the teeth in the work to become deeper and more nearly to the finished condition at which time the cutter vwill cease to cut, but the movements of the cutterand the rotary movement of the work will continue through this period, thus relieving the cutting apparatustof all stress; the movements aforesaid continuing, the Vcutter willfinally pass through this non-cutting period and-begin to again cut-the teeth in the Work to finish same as it passes through.

An object of the invention resides in providing a hob having a dseries of roughingV teeth preceding the finishing teeth, the rough-A ing teeth of whichare tapered inheight from one end to the other and are radially relieved,

the sides of which teeth are furthervtapered from back to front and the leading cutting edge of the teeth of Which are the shallowest and thinnest, successive cutting teeth becoming thicker and of greater length radially of and toward the other end of the hob.

Another object of the invention resides in the side relieving'the finishing teeth from front to backto-taper same and of radially relieving the topV of the finishing teeth to produce a constant pitch line toothV thickness.

With the above and other objects in view the invention comprisesbroadly the method I ,'50; and the emhodiment of the method and means attained by the structure illustrated in the 1929. seriarNo. 357,002. i

accompanying drawingsl jvhereinafter descrihed and' particularly set forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereof as will he ap-parent Fig. 1 1s a side elevation in perspective of a hobbing cutter. i

a Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1, lookingat the hobbing-cutter from the right hand end of the person viewing the drawing. i

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the develop- -4 ment `of the roughing and finishing teeth of the cutter as they would appear if unwrapped from the cylindrical body portion of the hob-v Vbing cutter. i i

. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hobbing f cutter, the finishing end-teeth being nearest to the vobserver. i V

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the hobbing cutter similar to Fig. 4, except that the hob bing cutter'hastbeen turned around, in which the .roughingteeth of the'hobbing cutter are now nearest to the observen' a Fig. 6 is a side elevation on a reduced scale of the development ofthe teeth of the hobbing cutter, as they appear from the cylindrical body of same.4 ,i

'Fig.l7 is a plan view of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a face' elevation on a reduced scale of the'first roughing tooth of the hobbingcutte; i i Y i Fig. 9 Vis a face elevation on a reduced scale offanother roughing tooth of the hobbing. cutter. a o v 4 Fig. v10 is a face elevation on a reduced scale Fig. 11 is a face elevation on a reducedscale when unwrapped sov representing the last `roughing tooth which hasbeen removedto provide a non-cutting space. i i :v Fig. 12 is a` face elevation on a. reduced scale of the finishing teeth@ Referring to Figs. 1 land 2, the numeral 1 indicates thebody portionofthe hobbing cutter Whichis provided with the bore 2 and keyway 3 which adapts the hobbing cutter ,mi motion in Ithe direction of theV arrow, 112

to be firmly secured to an arbor in a suitable hobbing machine.

The first roughing tooth of this hobbing cutter is indicated by the numeral 4, the second roughing tooth by thenumeral and the third roughing tooth by the numeral 6. Thetfinishing tooth is indicated by the nu-V v meral l7;, VThis' hob is furthenprovlded-with the spiraligash'es 8; i

The hob shown in the drawings, Fig'sl;

2, 4 and 5, is known as affive=start'hob,fequiv=' alent in effect to a multiple threaded worm provide a multiple number of gashes' 8 cor- `responding tov the numberx of starts in theV hob, whichis described as fi-ve. Inlike'manner, if an Eeightfstarthoh 'were' desired there threads, there would be Vpreferablylseven' ga'shes nithe hobbing Carter; This makes possible the arran'gem'ent of theroughing and' finishing teeth indicated' 'by the numerals 4,5;

'an'd 7,'and represents'in the'p'refer'red aspect ofmy-inventionfithe complete cy'c'l'e o'f teeth in the?hfobb'i-ngi?v cutter? necessaryH to" completely genera'te the 'correspon'ding conj ugate space betweenadj acentfte'eth fin' theV worm-. wheel., It;` will 'be obvious, however-,that as' the 'hob-V b'ngtuttr is-rotated withrhe worm wheels,

I it `is possible that every tooth' -in-the' h'bbingf cu'tt'er" will ultir'n'atetyz have' entered; and helped to generate the- 'conjugatespace b'e twfeen every adjacent toth inithe' wheel. This 'is' dependent upon the' niunberof teeth Y in the wormwheel and will occurk whenV the teeth the -w'orm wheel are not ifactorable withthe'number'of starts in the hob. u v

The radial gashe's 8'of the' h(')b`biI'1'i, 2;jcutter-` are' or suchfleadas wi 11`v bring' the radalj face 9; of Vthe teeth normal to the' thread helix? atk thefp'it'ich '1ine'ofthe'hob`- The' space 10 in the hobv is obtainedfby "renc'i'ovin'g'fa 't'ooth to pro;- vide': al non-cuttingspace. between' the end of'the roughing teeth] and the r'ow Vof :finishing teeth for a'purpose-'to belater described.

machine' re'ferred' to' in applican 'compan-V ionjapplication, Seria-INO;- &336,&58 filed May' be lused 'to genferate the teeth in the worm" wheel!- through .correlatedj .rotary 'motion' in the direction oflthe. arrow lland -rectilinear The action ofl generating conj i teeth inthe vworm wheelflbyfV the cutterof the press Vih? ent invention, involvesV but a single pass-of` this typefo'ff cutterfthroug-h the' work, to i' fin-V ish generate all ofthe; teethwv'ithoutfrec'ourse Being; necessary tofs-ubsequen't'v second ror third passesf or cuts;V f This Vis made 'possible by' vilrtue o ofi'the '-arran'genient and l disposiastherotary'movement of the hob in the direi'ctionsof the arrow 11 is relatively fast, in accordan-ce witlrthe-ability of the cutting edge of the hob to maintainV its keenness,

thus -theh'obbingfcutter isslowly fed through the work, having been positioned to cut to theV fullidepthlofltoothlin the work. The Vwork rotating in the proper direction at a speed correlatedwith respect' to therotary'and rectilin'earv, movements of 'the' hobbing icutterj:V v

The tooth 43, being shorter and narrower'thianl thefteeth'following, will generate' its n'eces-V sary conjugate lgroovc ;V Athis is followed E tlie'tooth`5- whichiis'wider and highenlwhich; u

Vwill-in turn generateits.` deepe'rand'l wider con-jugategroovein the'work; this'is-foli lowed by thefroughing tooth'offthe hob'- bing 'cutterwhich is higher and 'wider-` than theprecedingroughing teeth, thus generating the conjuga-te space between the teeth of'the The movements'of he hobandwork arecontinued and as the ^final`roughingto0th 6-' gradually 'moves away from cutting contact with the work, the final fi-n'ishing tooth;7,'be-I ing slightly higherfandfwider;beginsto con'-vr i tact-andtojoperate to finish cut and-genera-te itscoIi-jugateiform in the teethofthe work.

finishing tooth'7-,is a space indicated b'ythe-i numeral 10,- during the passV of which, throughthfe work, no *cutting action takes place, with-the resulti the n'iachine'is-rea fore; the 'finishing .tooth 7 begins Ato v operate' to cut away' metal, thus Ithemachine is in the neutralstate, in soi-far as springfis coni cernedV7 and not under anystress-during the duced 'by the light finishingcut' taken byith'e; tooth 7 z One'passf-of-this hob-fthroughithe work, therefore, is alll'that'is ne'c'ess'ary'toiflfl complete the cutting operation of'generating: the conjugate. teeth in`l aa worm wheel orthe adaptedfto work in' an automatic. machine of the 1 teeth of worm :wheels and the likesin* one operation: used onthe rear a-Xle of automobiles, speed rcducers', and other 'forms'of speed redu'cing devices.V I

Referring to Figsl 4 and 5 the roughing'i worm wheelsOffthietypeme f teeth and:V the Vfinishing teeth; are 'clearly' 'i shown. Thefillustration of' the roughing; tceth fi, 5an'd' 6 clearlyfindicate the *Coonical un; v

12o the type previously referredto, to finish cuitV I roughing teeth 4, 5 and 6, are provided with a helicoidal surface and With a lead slightly' less than the theoretical lead of the hob.

- By gearing upthe hob relieving machine as described, with two different leads, first one then the other, the roughing teeth 4, 5 and 6 will .vary in thickness as shown in Fig. 3 in which the dotted lines 4', 5' and 6' indicate the normal thickness of the teeth of the hob when the machine is geared up with the actual theoretical lead required to generate the teeth, but owing to the fact that the side i 13 is geared up for a lead greater than the theoretical-lead required, and the side 14 is geared up for a lead less than the theoretical lead required, the resultant tooth 6 is narrower than the required tooth thickness and the-tooth 5 is narrower than the tooth'6, and, in like manner, the tooth 4 is narrower tha the tooth 5, as shown in Figr.

The radially relieved bottoms of the roughing. teeth 4, 5 and 6, indicated .by the numeral 15, in Fig. 3 are disposed at an angle to the base 16 of the teeth. i

The tops of the teeth 4, 5 and 6 are obtained as described by tapering the end of the hob in the form of a Vcon-e, and then radially relievingithem. a The narrowing up of the teeth 4, 5 and 6 is, therefore, obtained, as described, by using a long and short lead, and the radial relief of the bottoms 15 provides the necessary clearan'ce for the cutting face 9 of the hobbing cutter.

The'bottoms of the finishing teeth 7, however,A are not radially relieved. The bottom of this tooth indicated by the numeral 17, as illustrated, is parallelto the base 16. i The cutting edge 9 is obtained in this tooth by helically tapering the toothf from front to back on each side of the finishing' teeth to provide the proper amount of clearance on the helicoid sides V18 and 19. i This is accomplished by gearing up a suitable machine with a short lead to produce the helicoid side 18 and with a long lead to produce the helicoid side 19.

The tops 7' of the teeth 7 are then relieved radially togive the proper tooth thickness at the same height from the front edge 9 of the hob to the back edge 9'. By making the finishingI teeth as described T have found in practice that aside clearance on thesides of the teeth 18 and: 19 of the finishing teeth 7, of'substantially 2 from front to back, will provide ample clearance and at the same time a verysmall radial relief is required to produce the radial relievedV surface 7 on a very slight angle sovtha't asv the faces 9 of the teeth are ground to sharpensame, the diameter of the hob is reduced' very little at the finishing end. h rllhis is very important because, manifestly, the hob must at all times benotless in diameter than the worm which will mesh with Vthe finished worm wheel, and at the same time the hob diameter must not eXceed that of the worm diameter by'any appreciable amount in the interest of efficiency. For example, if the hobbing cutter were very much larger lthan the worm, and

used to cut a worm wheel to mesh with the wheel, whereas, if the hobbing cutter is more nearly to the size of the worm, 'the bearing will eXtend further acrossthe teethV ofthe worm wheel.' I A I Hobs of the prior art are provided with radial clearance only, and require a radial clearance angle of anywhere from 10 to 25, which obviously indicates that with the old 'radial Vrelieved hobs we were compelled in the shop to start out with a new hob very much oversize, whereas, with'V ahob made in accordance with this invention, the finishing teeth .have approximately a 52 side vclearance anglewitha correspondingrelief angle for the top of the finishing tooth in the neighborhood of approximately 4 to 50. This enables;

worm wheels to be cut-throughout the entire life of theV hob and to have more nearly full line contact lengthwise ofvthe tooth vof the worm wheel with its-worm; i i,

The cutting clearances given to the teeth of the cutter of the present invention are. 'il-'IV lustrated in Figs 6 to 12 inclusive.

WVith reference to Fig- 6 it will be noted that the roughingteeth 4, 5 and 6 are provided with the radial relief 15 and that the'roughing teeth vary in height. The line L--L, which is the theoretically correct lead line,

would be straight inthis development, astillustrated. This line is again illustrated in Figl 7 and again in'Figs. 8 to`f12 in-clusive. The line, ab,'1*`ig; 8, represents the'pitch circle in its straight line development, and this applies alsoto Figs. 9 tol inclusive. In Fig. 6, following the roughing tooth- 6, is clearly illustrated the non-cutting space 10 which is followed by the finishing tooth 7, which is provided, as'previously stated, with the side relief 20, which as noted isat an angle to the line L-L to provide the required clearance to the side 18: of the finishing tooth 7, baokof the cutting edge 9.

' In like manner, the side 19 of the finishing tooth 7 is provided with the sideV clearance 20' to rovide clearance for the cuttino' edO'e lineLi-L and. thetopoff the tooth? being provided With-radialrfelief will-beat an angle thereto. f

The angle of side. clearance 20, as ,previous ly stated, isobtained'by using a, shorter lead than the theoretical-lead, and, ina similarmanner, theside clearanc'e'O' is obtained by using a greater lead than the theoretical lead. This condition is reversed with respect to the roughingteeth 4, 5 and 6 in whichthe sides 13' of the roughing teeth are radially i relieved and the lead V21` is usedj which is slightly greater than the theoretically correct lead of-the hob Whichis indicatedby the line L-L and theopposite sides 14 of the roughing teeth are in turn radiallyrelieved, using theleadlf slightly less-thanthetheoretical-lead L-VL of the hob.v v The lead=lines 20fand 20' of the finishing tooth 7 areatsubstantiallyV equally opposed angles to the theoreticallineV lie-L, and, in o like manner, except in the reverse order, the leadflines2l-and-21' of-the roughing teeth are at'substantially equal anglesvbutropposed to 26 each other with-respecttofthe theoretical line v L-L.V

An elevationalview of each tooth is shown,V

in-Figs. 8 tof12 inclusive, in whichfigures are illustrated the theoretical form of the tooth 3@ by dot and dash'line, and indicated by the numerals 4', 5' and' with reference respectively to-the roughing teeth 4, 5V and V6, and the numerallO' i-ndicates the tooth. by 3 dot Y and dash line, whichlwould ordinarily 'appear V i if-the space 10 'hadfnot beenV provided.

' Thepitch line ab intersects the theoretical lead line L-L at-substantiallythe same point onthe finishing tooth 7 as Well as the theoretical`teeth'4', 5,', 6' and 10', but owing to' the long andshort leadsas heretofore referred to, the roughing tooth 4 will be narrower than the roughingtooth 5,- and, in like manner, the roughing tooth will be narrower than the roughing toothz, tho finishingr tooth 7 being of' the correct height and width; :The-tooth which Would otherwiseA appear in VFig. .11V

being removed, willprovide thespace 10."

v In-Figs. 8, 9 and 10 the topsof theteeth Vare at anangleiwith respect to the Vpitch line ab, the tooth 4 being lower than thetooth 5-,

*and the tooth' 5 being. lowerthan the tooth' 6, as measured` from? the base `of the" teeth.-

Thus the top oftooth 4 is considerably below. the ptc-h line ab, whereas the topof tooth 5 approximately intersects the pitch line ab andV the lead line L-fL, whereas the top of tooth 6 is located outside of the line ab substantiallyv as sho.wn. Y v

Thedotted lines of theteeth inFigs. 8 to 11V incliisive correspondV substantiallyto the dottedlines of the teethshown in Fig; 3. Having clainf1 g V09;' 1-. A hob having cutting teeth arranged in thus described my invention, I-

a helical row, a tooth atione end of said-row being a finishing tooth and-the otherteeth being roughingteeth smaller thanthefinl'vshl ing tooth'and gradually decrea'sing-fin. size toward the opposite end, said-roughing-teeth having radial relief and the sides offsaid'finishing tooth having helical side relief and ing tooth and gradually decreasing in: si'zej toward the opposite end, the oppo'sitexside faces'of the roughing teeth lying ina longi; tudinally converging helicoid surfacesfi and Vtop raclial relief, the angleV of reliefV of the i the side faces ofthe finishing tooth lying.:in' i oppositely converging` helic'oid suirifaces.V

8. An integral one-piecehobhaving?gen erated peripheral cutting teeth arran'gedfinaV plurality of helicald rows, the* teeth of each row gradually decreasing'in sizetowardone v end of the hob, 'the largest tooth of eachirow 'being a finishing tooth, the other teethbeing roughing teeth, said roughing teeth having radial relief and said finishing'teethhaving;

side relief and top radial relief, the angil'eof'v relief of the finishing tooth being: smallas compared to the angle' of relief of thelroughling teeth; I i

4. Ahob havingcutting teeth arrangediin a pluralityof helical integral. rows, tHe-'teeth of eachA row gradually decreasing in height and thickness toward one en'dlof the hob, the top faces 'ofthe teeth beingradiallyrelieved; anend tooth of each integraljrow being'afifinf ishing tooth' ,and havinghelicoidsideifaces converging in the direction away fromthe' cutting edges thereof;

5. An integral one-piece hob having cutL o ting teeth generated on the periphery there'of'- arranged in a plurality of helical Vrowsvspaced clrcumferentially of the hub, saidteeth'having side faces forming sides ofv helico-idal'V grooves which gradually 'increase in a width toward one -end of the hobI and end' faces forming sides of helicoidal gashes normalftofsaid grooves, said grooves and gashes'extend.

ing the full'length of the hob` the teethgra'd i ually d-ecreasing in height'toward the'ab'ove' i mentioned end of the hob, said teeth'having cutting edges at the endsthereof toward the'- small end of the hob, the toothat the opposite end of each row being a finishing toothfandhaving side faces converging infa1 directionl' away from the cutting edges thereofl (i. hob having circumferentially'spaced' `finishing teeth at Vone'end and roughingteetli spaced axially with respect to thexfinishing.

teeth, a plurality of roughing teeth being in;

helical alinem'ent with eachffinishing tooth',

j the roughing teeth of each helicalirow being? smaller than the finishing tooth With-which Aza::

they are alined and of gradually decreasing i height and thickness toward the opposite end of the hob, each finishing tooth being spaced from the adjacent roughing tooth of the same helical row a distance substantially double the space between the adjacent roughing teeth teeth, the roughing teeth being of less height and thickness than the finishing teeth .and each roughing tooth being helicallyV allned With a finishing tooth, the peripheral faces of the roughing teeth having radial relief, and the finishing teeth having side faces provided With a small angle of relief and peripheral faces having radial relief at an angle much smaller than the angle of radial relief of the roughing teeth.

8. An integral one-piece hob having a group of circumferentially spaced finishlng teeth at one end, each of which has helicoidal side faces which converge at a small angle toward said end of the hob and cutting edges at the large end thereof, and. a group of roughing teeth spaced axially With respect to said group of finishing teeth, said roughlng teeth being of a height and thickness less than that of the finishing teeth, each roughing tooth having its cutting edges in helical alinement with the cutting edges of one finishing tooth and its end faces lin helical alinement with the end faces of another finishing tooth.

9. A hob having a group of circumferentially spaced finishing teeth at one end, each of Which has helicoidal side faces which converge at a small angle toward said end of the hob and cutting edges at thelarge end thereof, and a group of roughing teeth spaced axially with respect to said group of finlshing teeth, said roughing teeth belng of a height and thickness less than that of the finishing teeth, a plurality of roughing teeth being alined helically with each finishing tooth, the teeth of each helical row gradually decreasing in height and thickness in the direction away from the finishing teeth, ea ch finishing tooth being spaced from the adjacent roughing tooth alined helically there- With a distance substantially double that between adjacent roughing teeth in the same row.

10. A hob having cutting teeth disposed in a series of helical rows equally spaced circumferentially Qf the hob, said teeth having side faces separated by helicoidal grooves increasing in width toward one end of the hob and end faces separated by helicoidal gashes normal to said grooves and extending the full length of the hob, of a number equal to the number of grooves and equally spaced circumferentially of the hob, said teeth having radially relieved top faces and being of gradually decreasing height .toward the above mentionedendofthehob.f i' 11; A hob having cutting teeth disposed in a. series of'helical rows equally spaced circumferentially of the hob,` saidteeth having side faces separated by helicoidal grooves increasi ing in width toward one end of the hob and end faces separated by helicoidal gashes normal tolsaidl grooves and extending the full length of the hob, of a numberequal to the number of'groovesand equally spaced circumferentially of the 'hob,rsaid teeth-having cutting edges 'at the ends thereof toward the above mentioned end of the hob and being of gradually decreasing height toward saidend, `,I

teeth at the end of the hob opposite that above referred to having side relief and the smaller teeth having radial relief. i

12. The herein described method of making a hob which consists in forming longitudinally tapering helical threads on a blank by cutting regularly spaced helical grooves therein which are gradually vwidened toward one end of the blank, forming spaced cutting teeth along the length of each thread by cutting gashes across the threads substantially normal thereto and throughout the length of the blank, radially f relieving the top surfaces of the teeth, and relieving the side faces of the tooth formed at the wide end of each thread.

13. The herein described method of making a hob which consists in forming longitudinally tapering helical threads on a blank by cutting regularly spaced helical grooves therein which are gradually widened toward one end of the blank, forming spaced cutting teeth along the length of each thread by cutting gashes across the threads substantially normal thereto, radially relieving the top surfaces of the teeth, relieving the side faces of the tooth formed at the wide end of each thread, and removing the tooth next adjacent each of the last mentioned teeth.

14. The herein described method of making a hob which consists in forming longitudinally tapering helical threads on a blank by cutting regularly spaced helical grooves therein which are gradually widened toward one end of the blank, forming spaced cutting teeth Valong the length of each thread by cutting gashes across the threads substantially normal thereto and throughout the length 'of the blank, cutting away portions of the tops of the teeth to provide teeth having radially relieved top faces and of gradually decreasing height from the wide to the narrow end of each thread, and relieving the side faces of the tooth formed at the wide end of each thread.

15. The herein described method of making a hob which consists in forming longitudinally tapering helical threads on a blank by cutting regularly spaced helical grooves therein which are gradually widened toward one end 1 of ffnhe :blahk, :fovfmirxg ..spaced cto p tng teeth along the length ofleaehgthread tially-x 'normal thereto, cutting -away fiportions v of itheftops i of the teethtoprovde teeth-having `Itclally relieved a top...faees andl of gradllally, decreasngheght from the vir-ide to the narow end ofeach thread,111e1ievngfthe side faces of :the \tooth formed 'at the IWide end Of :'eaoh thread Land removng :the toothlnext 4 adjacent. each of thelastmentoned teeth.

ito 

